Through the 1800s, Whiskies from the region now called Speyside, were commonly know as Glenlivet. This all despite the fact that until Tamnavulin opened in the mid 1960s, there was only one distillery in the glen of the River Livet — The Glenlivet.

Tamnavulin can be found in the Speyside town of Tomnavoulin. Tamnavulin distillery was founded in 1966, at the height of the Whisky boom, when demand far outpaced supply of quality single malt.

Initially built to supply blenders, the company was acquired by Whyte & Mackay when the latter purchased the former's parent company, Invergordon Distillers.

A thoroughly modern site, Tamnavulin runs 6 stills -- three wash and three spirit -- for a total production capacity of over 4 million liters per year.

Nine washbacks are in use daily, and the Tamnavulin warehouses rack casks 10 rows high. Water for the mash is drawn from a well and stored in an underground reservoir, originally issuing from the River Livet, making Tamnavulin a very true representation of the region.

Flavour Spiral™

About The Flavour Spiral

sherry

caramel

spicy

oak tannins

vanilla

smoky

apple

oak

berries

What does Tamnavulin taste like?

The Flavour Spiral™ shows the most common flavours that you'll taste in Tamnavulin Scotch. It's based on all Tamnavulin drinks in our large database and gives you a chance to taste Tamnavulin before actually tasting it.

We invented Flavour Spiral™ here at Flaviar to get all your senses involved in tasting drinks and, frankly, because we think that classic tasting notes are boring.

Tamnavulin used to have a visitors center in an old building on the site, where wool was carded from the many flocks in the area. Staff grew weary of tourists making jokes about romantically inclined shepherds, and opted not to invite silly guests anymore.

The most densely populated Whisky region in the world sits in a fertile valley of rivers and glens. Home to over half of Scotland’s distilleries, malts from these fifty or so Speyside distilleries are hard to summarize, as there's a lot of flavour variety.

One thing we can say is that they're known for being frugal with peat and lavish with nutty fruit flavours. Apple, pear, honey, vanilla and spice all have a part to play in the Speyside Whiskies. Speyside Whisky also knows its way around a Sherry cask.